A Peculiar String of Bizarre Dreams

Chapter 45: Exhilaration and Anticipation

A thoughtful gesture, say a gift or a word of kindness exchanged can leave a pretty flush on your cheeks or a glow on your heart. But does anyone stop to tell you that your face suddenly looks lovelier? Or goodness, your heartshine is immense, what have you done, what's your secret? No. No such thing happens; you're not a fairy princess or a brave knightly wizard, you only have so much magic as a human. And that is why thoughtful gestures are rarely exchanged; their tangibility is mostly illusory. The key is to be kind, regardless of outcome. It makes the world a better place.

Such are my musings after I leave Phina, undoubtedly a consequence of her influence.  With one last gemstone in my pocket, I set off homeward to meet the Junipers.

It's a quiet walk with the sun making its descent; a rippling chill slowly adulterates the summery air. When I arrive at their garden, the soil is still upturned in places as it was in the morning. I climb the Junipers' iron-white porch and catch the gnome with the red cummerbund scowling at me from under his pointy hat.

"Can you hear me, evil gnome?" I ask with a glare and almost lose my footing when a gentleman's voice replies. "I have ears, don't I? My headgear may not be quite as tasteful as I'd like, so perhaps you mistake my ears for my hair. But there's no need to be rude, I can hear you just fine."

Before I can manage a reply, Daylily comes rushing out the front door, "I thought I heard something!" Then shouts back to someone inside the house. "It's Jemma!"

"Come in, come in," she ushers me inside, wearing a long dark dress with a worn-out cardigan, her pale hair a mess of waves on her shoulders. I walk in through the door and head to the living room, which homes a giant taupe couch. There, I find Adam Juniper, a dark lanky man with a saint's soul, sitting on a chair polishing a brass saxophone. He used to be a musician once, now he has a garden.

"Hi Adam! I haven't seen you in a while. How've you been?" I chirp at him.

"I'm doing well, Jemma. Glad you joined us this evening!" He only glances up from his buffing to twinkle his eyes full of warmth at me.

Daylily returns with a maternal concern upon her person, "Would you like some hot chocolate? I was going to make some for Adam and me. It's not winter yet, but we like our cocoa. Doesn't matter what season it is, there's something about hot chocolate, you know?"

I grin and concur, "I would love some, Daylily."

Adam continues to wipe off invisible smudges from the gleaming instrument while Daylily puts together three mugs of hot chocolate. My gaze wanders around the house. Gnome figurines sit on decorative shelves adjacent to photo frames, which flaunt pictures of Adam posing with gnomes in his garden. His devotion to these things was unquestionably palpable.

Daylily floats in right then, as though guessing my thoughts, to complement her husband's interests. She hands me a mug stamped with 'I love my garden' in bold black manly letters. Without any preamble, I take a big sip and let the chocolate melt all my notions into nothing.

"Dee-licious," Adam declares following a gulp of his own and Daylily brushes it off with a flustered, "Thank you, dear."

I set my mug aside and remove the stone from my pocket. A sigh made of relief and pride escapes me even though the gem looks meager and trivial in the cup of my palms.

"Here," I say handing it to Daylily. "It's a tree agate gemstone. I want you two to have it."

"Look at this little beauty, Adam!" Daylily cries and Adam immediately puts away the saxophone and shuffles into place beside his wife.

"Oh Lord, this sure is something," he lets out a low whistle. They sit together for a few minutes examining the stone back and forth between them, like it's a relic recovered from ruins.

"Is that a tree print on the stone?" Daylily finally asks.

"I think so," I reply bashfully. "The stone is supposed to enhance the strength of plants. I thought you could use something like this, what with the weeds lately."

At this, the old couple gives me a look so severe that I feel like I'm back in the quicksand again. Then their eyes promptly fill with tears and I realize that they're not thinking about the gem anymore, but of me going away. They're not alone in this feeling because I know I'll miss them too.

"Sweet girl," Daylily murmurs as she wraps me in a hug. She smells like lavenders or cherry blossoms or some other flower, it doesn't matter for it feels wondrous and heartening. Meanwhile, Adam reinforces her sentiment with much twinkling of eyes and a solemn, "Thanks, Jemma." I let the fuzzy feelings take over and smile complacently.

Exhilaration begins to build inside me as I sip away the dregs of cocoa. There, sitting on the Junipers' couch, I look out the window and think of all the possibilities my ability afforded me.

It has grown completely dark outside and moonlight shines upon the path leading up to my house. The rich smell of the damp garden beyond the porch reaches me through the open shutters, and a peculiar thought runs through me followed by an odd sense of anticipation:

There lies bare, a whole another night of bizarre dreams.